Railways is committed to provide convenient & smooth travel for its commuters during the ongoing monsoon season. In order to keep the wheels of trains running during the monsoon, several monsoon preparatory works have been undertaken over Mumbai suburban network. The monsoon preparation works included cleaning and de-silting of culverts, de-silting of side-drains, construction of additional waterways through micro – tunneling, RCC box insertions, special maintenance of infrastructure, etc.
Railways carried out an extensive study of drainage pattern of previous year’s flooding & water logging locations. Accordingly, an action plan was devised to augment the discharge capacity of the waterways at the identified locations. Customized solutions were formulated for each such flooding location with the aim to facilitate quick &smooth discharge of rainwater and prevent water logging. Construction of 8 km of new drain at various flood prone locations was part of this action plan which has helped in draining the rain water quickly during recent spell of heavy rains in different locations. At Bandra & Grant Road, 800 running metres of drains has been constructed & 1200mm drain pipes have been installed. Additionally, 460 running metres of HDPE pipe has also been inserted. These have resulted in increasing the discharge capacity totally by 320%. Similarly, at Goregaon, 1200 running metres of drains has been constructed along with 3 retain walls to prevent ingress of water, in addition to insertion of 580 running metres of HDPE pipe, which altogether has increased the discharge capacity by 280%. The flood prone section of Dadar – Matunga – Mahim has also been provided with customized solution which involves insertion of 680 running metres of HDPE pipe, construction of 500 route metres of drains & insertion of two 1200mm pipe on east side. This has enhanced the discharge capacity by upto 300%.
Also, advanced technology of micro-tunneling method was employed at various locations for construction of additional water ways to augment the discharge capacity of rain water. The water ways through this technique have been constructed at Bandra (North), Sandhurst Road & Masjid and between Vasai – Nallasopara, Kurla – Vidyavihar. These additional waterways will provide big relief as it will help in discharge of water around the tracks quickly. Heavy machines such as suction & de – sludging machines had been put into action to ensure deep cleaning of culverts. The drains & nallahs prone to flooding & chock-ups are being monitored through aerial survey with the help of drones. Railway authorities have kept regular coordination with the concerned municipal authorities and have conducted joint inspections of the cleaning works as well as critical flood prone areas withthem.
Over Mumbai Suburban network, 340 Nos of culverts have been cleaned & 212 km of drains have been desilted before the onset of Monsoon.The cleaning work of culverts & drains will be carried out at regular intervals during the entire monsoon season in phases, as the need arises. It is pertinent to mention that the culverts & drains get choked up due to dumping of garbage mainly comprising of household waste, plastics, etc.The public needs to be educated &counselled in this regard to minimise the dumping.
The carrying capacity of the waterways in Mumbai suburban section is limited & proves insufficient at times. Heavy rainfall compounded with high tide adds immense pressure on this stormwaterdischarge system, thereby resulting in flooding on tracks and disruption in train operations. To redress this problem, a systematic approach needs to be adoptedwith an end to end solution. Hon’ble Minister for Railways and Commerce & Industry and Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Shri Piyush Goyal during his review of monsoon preparations also emphasised on adopting a holistic & long term plan. He suggested Railways to partner with Institutions like IIT-Mumbai to study the efficiency of technical and civil work initiatives of Railways & local municipal corporations in handling monsoon rains.
Railways have completed the pre-monsoon works over Mumbai suburban network and situation is continously monitored with all arrangements and teams of Officers & staff in place to provide smooth rail transportation during this monsoon to the Mumbaikars.
